Secrets Not Secret Anymore
by Thalia Luz
Summary: Barry only ever had two secrets from Iris. 1) He loved her - always had and always will. And, 2) He had super-speed, which he uses as Central City's resident guardian angel The Flash - a man faster than a speeding bullet. These were secrets Barry never wanted her to know, and if not for a visit from our resident nemesis she would never have...
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: I don't own any part of DC Comics characters or the CW TV shows_**

 ** _Comic book fans: I have not read the comics, and all my Flash knowledge comes from the CW TV Shows (and Wikipedia)._**

 ** _Also: I don't actually ship WestAllen as much as SnowBarry, PattyxBarry, or even Barricity, but Iris was the only character that this story would be possible with. I kinda ship their backstories together than their actual characters and personalities together. (Please don't hate me WestAllen shippers.)_**

 ** _Lastly: This is my first published fanfict, so I'm new here. Please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong or if you have a suggestion that would improve my story! (Please review!)_**

* * *

 _Amazing. Only Barry Allen could mess up this badly. What kind of super hero didn't get the girl?_

 _Actually, that was the problem. It was the super hero who got the girl, not the über nerd best friend with the big crush and even bigger secret._

 _Because he was the man behind the mask, and lying to her about it was eating him up._

 _He needed to tell her. He needed to keep her safe._ _But he couldn't do both._

 _He had to chose._

 _He needed to keep her safe above all else, so as much as he wanted to tell her, he couldn't. He was going to lose her - to the Flash. Who was his alter-ego. Which she didn't know. It was complicated._

 _How embarrassing. He was his very own competition for the heart of the love of his life. And it looked like he was losing. Like he said before, only he could could mess something up this badly._

 _Barry had always loved Iris. He had loved her before he even knew what the word 'love' meant. He had never told her about his feelings before so he wouldn't ruin their friendship if she didn't love him back. Up until he had been struck by lightning and became The Flash, his feelings had been the biggest secret he had kept from her, ever._

 _Now he had a whole secret life. Iris was in the dark about his ability to move at super-speed and his tendency to use his ability for (illegal vigilante) crime-fighting activities, despite all the time she devoted to investigating the Flash. It really was amazing how oblivious Iris could be to him._

 _It may have stayed that way if not for one very frustrated speedster._

 **...**

It was a day like any other. He was running late, as per usual, and had arrived at his lab just in time for Captain Singh to lecture him about his perpetual tardiness. Being a slow day at the station, Singh assigned Barry the soul-sucking chore of organizing the files of old cases in the back rooms. Especially with the Speed Force running through his veins (well, blood vessels in general), it was a tiresome and tedious task.

When he was done with his 'day job', he ran over to STAR Labs. The Central City crime-rate had rapidly decreased since Barry had become the Flash and there hadn't been a metahuman wreaking havoc in days. Wells wanted Barry to do more tests and training while there was a lull in disasters of epic proportions.

Wells _actually_ called it a lull. He just had to.

Come on guys, nothing in Barry's life has ever gone according to plan. Calling it a lull was practically begging for something to go wrong.

Wells had Barry do some quick running exercises, then moved onto the multitasking part of Barry's training. After beating Cisco in 104 games of ping pong and Caitlin in 73 games of Operation, and (almost) beating Wells in chess fifteen times, Barry was ready to call it a night. Face it, he was a guy, and while he was one of the more intelligent breed, he could only multitask for so long. Barry was also been particularly antsy to leave STAR Labs that day. Wells thought that Barry was getting lenient without a challenging opponent. Caitlin figured Barry was just on edge because the quiet - the lack of danger and need for adrenaline - felt unnatural. Cisco was the only one who voiced his thoughts.

"Hot date Barry?"

Not one of the brilliant STAR Labs scientists were right, but one was close. Hint: this person made up silly code names for super villains and calculated the average number of bugs Barry would swallow in a day of running in his spare time time. Yup, it was Cisco. Barry didn't have a _date_ date per say (but Iris was hot, so Cisco was half right), he was going to be hanging out with Iris. Of course it was just a platonic friends night out, but Barry would take what he could get.

 **...**

Friends night was going well. Barry had been late of course, but that was practically his signature move. How strange would it be if he was actually on time? This week it was low key, just staying at Joe's house. Barry bought six pizzas from the best pizza joint in Coast City. (Iris didn't know that they were from Coast City of course, just that they were damn good.) He ate five and a half pizzas, which he washed down with three burgers from Big Belly Burger and four glasses of milk. He told Iris he'd missed lunch. (He hadn't, and actually just eaten an hour ago.) All the while, the two close friends just talked. They were one of those couples that could just talk and talk and not run out if things to say. After finding themselves in a (slightly heated) debate about the possibility of an alien invasion, they moved onto eating brownies (Iris' favorite) while watching Star Wars (Barry's favorite). Well, Iris ate brownies and watched Star Wars. Barry ate brownies and watched Iris.

To Barry, Iris was breathtakingly beautiful, even covered in brownie crumbs and drifting asleep.

Barry isn't exactly proud of what he did next. He took out his phone to take a picture of Iris for later. Just after he snapped the picture, Cisco's face popped up on his screen, showing an incoming call. Cisco's calls - except for the one time he had called to tell Barry how many tacos he needed to eat per day to fulfill his special dietary needs with his increased metabolism - were always important. He quickly picked up, and his ear was immediately filled with Cisco's panicked voice.

"Dude, I need help. There's a fire at this boarding school just outside of Central City and Dante - my asshole brother - has a piano gig there right now. He's an ass, but he's family. Could you please go make sure everybody's safe? "

Barry cursed his hero complex under his breath, and asked Cisco for the address. He told Iris he needed to use the bathroom, went upstairs, changed into his suit, ran into the fire making sure everybody was safe, and ran back to Joe's house. He was back in less than five minutes.

And Iris was gone.

 **...**

Instead of finding Iris curled up on the couch, his phone was there, blaring strange music Barry had never heard before. Barry turned it on and dropped it on the floor. His wallpaper had been changed. Gone was the happy picture of Iris, Joe, and Barry, replaced by a terrible picture of Iris bound and gagged with the Reverse Flash holding the sign "Come get me." His phone pinged with a new text from a blocked number. _I'm outside._

Barry sprang into action. He didn't bother to turn off the TV, change out of his suit, or even lock the door behind him. The Reverse Flash had just kidnapped the love of his life from right in front of him and he was damned if he was going to let him get away with it.

That night in Central City, anyone looking down on the streets would have seen twin streaks of lightning chasing each other. One red, one yellow, the red always just in front of the yellow. Barry was running faster than he had ever run before, but he couldn't catch up to the Reverse Flash.

 **...**

Iris West was no longer half asleep. She was wide awake and terrified. She had no idea where she was. She had never been properly kidnapped before. Held hostage, yes, but kidnapped, no. She just knew that it was dark, and she wanted Barry.

 **...**

To Barry, the chase lasted for infinity. It stretched on for hours, days, centuries. In reality, it was only five minutes before the Reverse Flash stopped in a large sports field. Through his mask, Barry saw Iris was tied to a seat in the stands. The Reverse Flash turned around to face Barry.

"Still not fast enough" announced the man in the yellow suit, "How will you save your girlfriend if you can't even keep up?"

* * *

 ** _Thank you for reading my story! Please review!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of DC Comics characters or the CW TV shows**

 **Comic book fans: I haven't read the comic books, so everything I've based my story on is the CW TV shows (and Wikipedia).**

 **Also, I already have five story followers (thank you kftravis81, S.T.A.R. Labs, SilentEevee, thabeathabsy, Band Wizard) and I'm super pumped!**

* * *

 _"Still not fast enough," announced the man in the yellow suit, "How will you save your girlfriend if you can't even keep up?"_

 **...**

Barry was quivering with fury. His whole body was vibrating, his cells moving faster than they had ever before. Barry Allen was literally sparking, with little arcs of electricity leaping haphazardly around his body.

The little lightning bolts cracked around Central City's resident guardian angel's figure like a halo, as if he truly was from another world. On the other hand, the yellow-clad man standing in front of him seemed eerily calm, but with his glowing red eyes, he seemed a vengeful demon. From Iris' perspective (tied up and dazed), the Flash was a beautiful angel while the other speedster was the devil incarnate hell bent on vengeance.

"Who are you?" Barry demanded, "Why are you doing this?" _Barry hadn't bothered to disguise his voice, and Iris' eyes went wide. She knew that voice that was... Barry?_

The Reverse Flash just smiled, his lips widening until the sardonic smile was closer in resemblance to baring his teeth than a smile. "Barry, Barry, Barry," the man in the yellow suit berated with a disappointed sigh, "Now where would be the fun in that? Oh, no, Mr. Allen, we're doing this the hard way." _With those words, the Reverse Flash confirmed Iris' suspicions. Barry was The Flash._

The response enraged Barry. He was certain this was the man he'd seen in his house when he was eleven. This was the lightning man who had killed his mother and framed his father for her murder. Why had he come back, and why was he after Iris now? Barry didn't know. The only thing he was 100% certain of was that this man had, could, and would hurt Iris, and he needed to stop him. With that final thought, the scarlet speedster charged at the man in the yellow suit with a loud battle cry.

 **...**

Iris was in shock. Give the girl some credit, she _had_ just be kidnapped, taken at speeds of over 800 miles per hour, and discovered that there were two - not one - speedsters in Central City. And one of them was... Barry? Her Barry - the Barry who had grown up just one bedroom away, the Barry who told her everything? It was impossible, yet somehow, it was true. Iris couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it. Barry would never lie to her, especially about something this big, would he?

Desperate, she thought back to all the times she had met the Flash. The two men couldn't be the same man, right? But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. This was the reason for the instant and natural familiarity that she had shared with the Flash, the reason why they felt so comfortable together. Her whole world flipped upside down.

Barry... was her best friend.

Barry... was the Flash.

Her best friend... was the Flash.

Iris felt like she'd been hit by by a truck (the whiplash didn't help), then the truck had reversed, and ran her over again. How could the person she had trusted the most - her best friend - not tell her about such a big part of his life?

What Barry had done was no forgivable little white lie, it was an entire side to him he'd kept her in the dark about. She wasn't just angry at him, she was betrayed and hurt. She edited her earlier thoughts.

Barry... was her _ex_ best friend.

Barry... was the Flash, the speedster watching over Central City.

Her _ex_ best friend... was the Flash.

She was furious, and if she wasn't tied up, she would have been beating the crap out of the red speedster herself. But she was tied up, and it was the mysterious yellow speedster beating the crap out of her Barry.

Iris was learning that it was really hard to be mad at someone you loved as you watched a stranger knock the living daylights out of them.

 **...**

Barry was getting his ass handed to him. The man in the yellow suit was faster, stronger, and smarter. He was always one step ahead of Barry, taunting him, letting him come so close, then pulling away. Barry had almost given up hope of beating his opponent. He hadn't been able to save his mother from this man in the past, and even now, with all his new powers he wasn't even close to a fair fight. How could he beat a man who was so far ahead of him? The only thing pulling him through the fight, the only reason he kept fighting was Iris. If this man was free, Iris would never be safe. Even if they left Central City - which he couldn't do anyway - they would spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders. No, Barry had to push through the pain that pulsed all over his body and fight for Iris.

Groaning, he pulled himself to his feet, while his tormentor waited expectantly for Barry's next move. The Reverse Flash wasn't even breathing hard. He could have taken Barry down anytime he wanted, but he always waited for Barry to make his play first.

It was just a game to the yellow speedster, and that infuriated Barry Allen. He had tried everything, was still no closer to beating the Reverse Flash and getting answers.

The Reverse Flash seemed to be picking up on Barry's energy depletion. He spoke, in his creepy vibrating way.

"This isn't about Iris," he confessed, "it never was. This is about you, Barry. It was always about you."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading the second chapter of my story! Please take the time to review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: I don't own any part of DC Comics characters or the CW TV shows_**

 ** _Comic book fans: I've based my story on is the CW TV shows (and Wikipedia), not the comics._**

 ** _WARNING #1: This chapter goes to a darker place than most my chapters will be. You have been warned._**

 ** _WARNING #2: This chapter is slightly Snowbarry, but the overall story is firmly WestAllen. Don't be discouraged WestAllen shippers! (Snowbarry shippers, I'm working on a Snowbarry fanfic as well though. It's called_ The Boy With Three First Names _... more info at the bottom...)_**

 ** _Reviews greatly appreciated!)_**

 ** _I HAVE CHANGED THE LAST 2 CHAPTERS. SO IF YOU HAVE TIME, I WOULD SUGGEST RE-READING THE FIRST 2 CHAPTERS. (You don't have to if you started reading the story after 9/5/2015 though.) THE PLOT IS STILL BASICALLY THE SAME, THESE CHAPTERS ARE JUST BETTER AND YEAH, BETTER. Thanks!_**

 **...**

 _"This isn't about Iris," he confessed, "it never was. This is about you, Barry. It was always about you."_

 **...**

Barry felt like he'd been struck by lightning again - as if that same arc of super-charged electricity had found him again. Barry's knees went weak, his legs turned to jelly, and he slipped to the ground. His broken ribs, various cuts and bruises, and other injuries caused him to scream in pain. The Scarlet Speedster had all but given up. _Because of him..._

"It was you," Barry gasped, staring up into the glowing red eyes that hovered over him, "You killed my mother. Why?" His voice broke on the last word.

There was no remorse in the answer. "Because I _hate_ you." With the vicious words still vibrating in the air, the Reverse Flash turned on his heel, grabbed Iris, and ran.

Barry tried to follow, but his legs wouldn't work. He lay there, in the middle of the empty stadium, helpless to save Iris. He screamed in frustration and agony into the dead air.

 **...**

Caitlin was exhausted. It was almost 1 AM, and she was really starting to hate her insomniac night-owl tendencies. There was a knock on the door. She ignored it. She wasn't in the mood to argue with solicitors. What kind of solicitors even worked this early? The knocking grew more frantic, and a familiar voice called out her name. She bolted upright. That wasn't a solicitor.

She stumbled to her front door in the dark, and opened it. Barry, who had apparently been using the door to support himself, gave a grunt of surprise and toppled over, falling through the open doorway. Unfortunately for Caitlin, but luckily for Barry, Caitlin managed to break his fall.

Once Caitlin had untangled herself from Barry's long lanky limbs (Barry was too tired to move), she groped the walls until she found the light switch. Flick. The lights turned on, and the woman gasped.

"What happened?" the normally calm and collected geneticist demanded.

"Uuuuhhh" Barry didn't say anymore, even that sound had hurt.

This was the worst she had ever seen Barry. He smelled of smoke. Had he been in a fire? He was covered in blood, and had a split lip. His left ankle was at an unnatural angle. From the way he was holding his torso, she also guessed that he had at least two broken ribs. What on earth had happened? Barry went limp. Horrified, Caitlin thought the worst. Was he dead?

Her worries were unfounded. The pulse was weak, but steady. The exhausted super hero had simply passed out, whether from fatigue, low glucose levels, or pain, Caitlin didn't know.

Caitlin had questions, but she knew that they would have to wait. She would need to patch him up and wait for him to come to before she would get any answers. She called Cisco for help to get to STAR Labs. Caitlin just didn't have the equipment or resources to deal with all of Barry's injuries.

 **...**

Barry dreamed of _that_ night fourteen years ago, when the Reverse Flash had taken his mother from him. Only in this dream, it wasn't his mother who the Reverse Flash killed. When he pulled back the blue sheet covering the cold corpse, it wasn't his mother's cold body but Iris', her face pulled back in a timeless scream. Eleven year old Barry Allen scampered back, his slippers coming off in his rush.

Dead Iris lurched up, knife still in her torso, moving her lifeless eyes until they were fixed on eleven year old Barry.

"Why didn't you save me, Bair?" Dead Iris whispered.

"You ran away, you let him have me. Why did you give up on me?" The whisper twisted around in his thoughts, "I never gave up on you. I waited for you, but you never came."

Dead Iris' haunting whisper changed to the eerie vibrations of the Reverse Flash. Barry couldn't see him, just heard the ghostly vibrations "Look at what you've done. This is your past, your present, and your future. I'll always be one step ahead of you. You're not fast enough to save the people you love. You couldn't save your mother and you can't save her either."

 **...**

When Barry came to, it was just like it was when he woke up from his nine month coma. He was in the same medical bed in the STAR Labs Cortex, staring up at the ceiling. Caitlin was watching his vitals, Cisco sucking on a grape lollipop, working on some new suit designs.

Caitlin glanced over to Barry. and noticed he was up. He had been out for four and a half hours, and was almost completely healed. Caitlin just needed to remove some stitches. She turned around to get what she needed to remove the stitches.

"Okay Barry, I just need to remove your stitches. Care to tell us what happened to you?" There was no reply, and Caitlin turned to face the speedster, "Barry?"

The speedster was quiet.

"He kidnapped Iris." Barry finally said after a lengthy silence. He moved his head to his hands. "And it's all my fault."

 **...**

 _ **Phew! I finally finished the third chapter. I hope you guys like it, and review!**_

 _ **If you're wondering about my spelling of Barry's nickname "Bair", it's still pronounced "Bear" like in the TV show, this is just how I write it out.**_

 _ **SQUEEEEEEE! I have five more story followers! Thanks: Esther Pix's, Sir Browsealot, namika ashara, FelicityChaseGrangertheBabbler!**_

 _ **I 've also been writing another fanfic, for Snowbarry shippers (like myself). I've published the first chapter and working on the second (so if you're secretly Snowbarry, check it out). It's called**_ **The Boy With Three First Names** ** _. and it will be about Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin going to high school together._**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hi guys, sorry for the late update. (I needed to read Frankenstein for summer reading before school starts on Thursday.)**_ ** _I've also been plotting (no evil schemes though, I promise) and thinking about the directions of my fanfics. I've come up with quite a few ideas for future fanfics (both WestAllen and Snowbarry ones), and I've also been working on_ The Boy With Three First Names _(sorry, I haven't updated that yet)._**

 ** _I have good news and bad news:_**

 _ **The good news is that I have updated.**_

 _ **The bad news is that I probably won't be updating as frequently with school starting. Teachers love giving busy work.**_

 _ **I'm also super pumped about the new reviews and followers, thank you: IlMara (Guest), KyannaLashae (Guest) for the reviews and Capitan Canada, Don'tForgetToBeAwesome for** **following my story!**_

 **•••**

 _"He kidnapped Iris." Barry finally said after a lengthy silence. He moved his head to his hands. "And it's all my fault."_

•••

Iris West was stuck. She had struggled against her bindings for the better part of five hours. No matter how hard she had pulled and wiggled, the ropes around her wrists and ankles that bound her to the cold metal chair refused to budge. She had since moved onto glaring at the man in the yellow suit.

Like The Flash, he was dressed in some sort of form-fitting leather suit, and was fast. That was where the similarity ended. This speedster was evil to the core, the polar opposite of Barry's warm heart.

She hated the man.

He had beaten Barry to the point when Barry couldn't even stand. Iris still couldn't get the image of Barry's broken body at her captor's feet out of her head.

And when Barry has accused him of killing his mother, he hadn't denied it. The cold words he had said were spinning around in her head, stuck on endless repeat. "Because I _hate_ you."

This could only mean one thing.

She was at the mercy of the man who had killed her best friend's mother.

She tried not to whimper as the killer stepped closer, approaching her in slow, deliberate steps. In his right hand he held a syringe filled with a strange clear liquid. In a clean move, he jabbed the needle into her arm, and emptied the mysterious contents into her bloodstream.

In the moments before she blacked out, her last thoughts were of Barry

Where was Barry? Was he okay? Could he save her?

•••

Cisco Ramon normally loved all the super hero stuff. A friend who could run at super human speed? Sweeeeet! Meta-humans with super powers? Sure, some of them were evil, but it was still pretty dope.

This was one of those rare moments when he did not love the super-powered excitement.

He had gotten a panicked call from Caitlin a little after one in the morning, telling him that Barry was badly hurt, and she needed help getting him to STAR Labs. He had figured Barry had broken a couple bones and was a little bruised up.

He was so wrong. When he first saw Barry, he had thought Barry had been volunteering as a zombie (or vampire) movie prop, and barfed a little bit in his mouth (but nobody needed to know about that). Barry was unconscious, his skin was unnaturally pale and covered blood and sweat.

According to Caitlin, Barry had broken his left ankle, along with five ribs. His shoulder was dislocated and he'd sprained his wrist. She didn't know what had happened.

Cisco had a moment of panic.

Was this his fault? Would this never have happened if he hadn't asked Barry to check on Dante? It couldn't be. That was impossible, right?

What ever had happened, something had happened, and he needed to get off his butt and help.

With lots of grunting and a startling amount of Klingon swearing, the two STAR Labs scientists maneuvered the surprisingly heavy hero - than again, they both knew how much Barry needed to eat - into Caitlin's car. They got to STAR Labs in record time - Cisco may (or may not have) hacked the Central City Traffic Control and changed all the lights to green. Somehow, Caitlin and Cisco managed to get Barry out of the car and up to the STAR Labs Cortex (they did give the janitor quite the scare...) without further injuring him.

Despite Cisco dropping him a few times, the wounded hero was still out, something both scientists were thankful for. They both knew that Caitlin would have to re-break and set each of Barry's broken bones and if Barry had been awake, he would have felt everything because Caitlin still hadn't managed to create an anesthetic that Barry's crazy metabolism didn't burn through in seconds.

When Barry had finally woken up about four and a half hours later, he was... different. There was this look in his eye that reminded Cisco of the time where Captain Cold had kidnapped Caitlin, only this was way worse. Barry didn't just look worried or panicked, he looked broken. Seeing Barry so defeated terrified Cisco.

And that was _before_ Cisco understood why.

•••

Caitlin was worried. For Barry, for Iris. But she needed to be the logical one here, for all her friends' sakes.

"Who, Barry? Who took Iris?" Caitlin prompted.

"The man who killed my mother," Barry said, almost to quiet for Caitlin and Cisco to hear, "The Reverse Flash."

The only sound in the STAR Labs Cortex was the sound of the three scientist's breathing.

•••

Joe was worried. He couldn't reach Barry or Iris.

Iris, he could understand - that girl could sleep through the apocalypse, but Barry had always been a light sleeper.

Barry... Joe knew Barry would have heard his phone ringing, and Barry always picked up before the third ring, especially after getting super-speed.

In a last attempt to contact Barry, he called Cisco.

What Cisco told him sent him running to his car and speeding to STAR Labs.

•••

Barry felt terrible. What was Iris going through as he wasted time talking? He should be out there, searching every nook and cranny for her. He should at least be doing something.

Barry knew he wasn't wasting time. While he was almost healed, he still needed to stay off his feet for at least another twenty minutes, and in that time they were going through all the CCTV footage since Barry figured Iris had been taken. They were looking for any possible clue, no matter how small.

Barry and Cisco was still going through the footage when Wells rolled in, with Joe hot on his wheels.

"Where is she? Where's my daughter?"

•••

 ** _What do you guys think? What's Wells gonna do? How should Joe react? Should Barry call Felicity and Oliver over from Starling to help?_**

 ** _Also, when I write, I like having WestAllen videos going on in the background. Do you guys know any good ones? Post your favorite WestAllen video, and I'll check it out._**

 ** _Please review and follow!_**


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